The Galway-domiciled Johnny Duhan does not easily fit into a world of instant celebrity, tabloid news values and hogtied radio playlists. No matter. The Burning Word displays a rare honesty, shot through with Duhan’s compulsion to peel the skin off things – even if he isn’t always at ease with his findings. That spiritual dimension is here in abundance, not least in the infiltration of The Lord’s Prayer into ‘Surrender’, the biblical allusions in ‘Wonders’ and the hallelujahs in ‘This World Is Not Conclusion’, adapted from Emily Dickinson’s 19th century poem. ‘Song of the Bird’ has a Springsteen-like intensity, and ‘Part of a Tribe’ reflects on what we’ve been through over the past four decades.
Duhan’s voice has a commanding presence, rendering listeners barely conscious of the spare backing of mostly piano and guitar, while supplementary voices evoke the uplifting rawness you get from small church congregations. Duhan’s songs may be redolent of his tussles with his Christian faith, but they also have echoes of distant Pagan days when people had more time to engage with what really matters.

KEY TRACK: ‘THE FLAME IS LIT’